Festival winner for Des McDonogh

Moynalty trainer Des McDonogh enjoyed a piece of the limelight at Punchestown yesterday when he won the Mares' Novice Hurdle with Morga which also completed a great treble for jockey Davy Russell who has strong connections with the Kells area.

Morga is owned by Jackie Bolger, wife of top flat trainer Jim Bolger, and was McDonogh's first runner at the big festival for some 15 years.

McDonogh famously trained the legendary Monksfield to win the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham on two occasions.

Yesterday, Morga put the north Meath village of Moynalty back on the racing map with a fantastic victory in the valuable race.

“She has improved big time for her experience at Cork and she jumped superb. The others had a lot more experience, but she's really tough and is a very good filly, I haven't had one like her since Herbert United,'commented Des McDonogh who is the father of top flat jockey Declan McDonogh. 

 “Jim (Bolger) has been fantastic to me in the last eight or nine years and has kept me going. He rang me up a while ago and said he had one which might make a good hurdler,' he added.